I was home on Christmas break after my first semester at college. It was good to see my parents again. I had missed them while I was away. It was my first day back and I was in the den talking to mom about college life. Dad was at work when I got home so I had a warm welcome from my mother. I had only been home an hour when we heard the phone ring and mom went to answer it. From where I was I couldn't make out what she was saying but she did sound extremely concerned. It was only a couple of minutes later when she came into the den. I could tell from the look on her face that something was wrong.
"Rick, I need you to drive me to Mercy General," mom said. Mercy General was one of the hospitals in town.
I felt a cold chill run through my body. "What is it mom? Is dad okay?"
"Yes, he's fine. That was Mrs. Miller. Penny's been in an accident," she said.
A feeling of dread shot through me. "Oh no, mom. Is she okay."
"I don't know, Rick. Mrs. Miller is quite upset and I need to get there to be with her."
Nodding I jumped up and ran to my room and grabbed my car keys. We rushed out and quickly piled into the car. I took off rather fast causing mom to ask me to slow down. She said it wouldn't do any good if we had an accident too. I dropped back to the speed limit. I felt my knees shaking as I drove and my mind thought about Penny, the blonde haired girl with the big blue eyes.
The Millers had moved into the house across the street when I was seven. My mother took a plate of her home made brownies to them as a welcome to the neighborhood gift. Mom and Mrs. Miller became good friends immediately. They had a lot in common, same age, both had grown up in small towns, both were stay at home mothers and wives. One difference was that Mrs. Miller had given birth to a daughter, Penny. I was born six days before Penny.
I can remember watching out the front window as they moved in. The first time I saw her was the day a moving van pulled up in front of their house. It was followed by a car that parked nearby and three people got out. It was obvious that it was a married couple with a young daughter about my age. The daughter had her blonde hair braided into two pigtails that hung down on either side of her head. She looked kind of cute but I really couldn't tell from that distance.
The first time I saw her up close was two days later when one of the secretaries from the front office brought her into the classroom I was sitting in. She introduced Penny to the teacher who in turned introduced her to the class as a new student who would be joining our grade. It was easy to see that Penny looked nervous as she apprehensively looked around the room. Even as a second grader I could see how coming into a new school in the middle of the year could be a little scary. Our teacher led Penny over to the empty desk which was next to mine and she gave me a timid smile as she sat down.
The first time I actually spoke to her was at lunch in the cafeteria. By this point in the school year everyone had already formed friendships and would sit in their own little groups while they ate. As was typical with second graders we sat at tables that were either all boys or all girls. Our teacher had asked Penny to stay and talk to her for a few minutes after the lunch bell rang so she was the last one in line to get her food.
I was sitting where I could see her as she went along the counters. George was regaling us with another one of his stories about his escapades. I wasn't really listening as I watched Penny holding her tray looking around the cafeteria uncertainly. None of the girls made an effort to ask her to sit with them so she walked to the back and sat alone at an empty table. Despite knowing that I would probably be teased by my friends later I picked up my tray and walked back and sat down across from her. She looked up surprised and again gave me a shy smile.
"Hi, I'm Ricky," I said.
"Hello Ricky. My name's Penny," she replied. Of course I already knew her name from when the teacher introduced her to the class.
"You live on Maple Street, right?" I asked.
She again gave me a surprised look. "Yes, I do. How did you know that?"
I gave her a grin. "I live across the street from you and I saw you and your mom and dad when you moved in." That was the start of our bond. She told me that her daddy had gotten a new job and they had moved here from a town about two hours away. She was sad that she had left behind all her friends. I walked with her back to class when the bell rang but we didn't have any chance to talk the rest of the day. When school let out she told me that her mom was picking her up. Parents that picked up their kids parked in front of the school and those of us who rode the bus went to the back where the buses parked.
When I got home that afternoon my mouth began to water as soon as I walked in the door. I could smell the aroma of fresh baked brownies. I ran into the kitchen hoping for an afternoon snack. Mom laughed when she saw me and nodded at a plate of cooling squares of deliciousness on the counter. As I grabbed one and bit into it I noticed that she had a second plate that she was wrapping in tin foil. She told me that she was going to take it over to our new neighbors across the street to welcome them to the neighborhood. She was pleased when I asked if I could go with her.
Mom rang the doorbell and a few seconds later Mrs. Miller opened the door. I saw Penny standing slightly behind her mother and she gave me a smile. Our mothers introduced themselves and talked for a couple of minutes before mom introduced me to Mrs. Miller. Mrs. Miller in turn introduce her daughter Penny who told our moms that we were in the same class. Mom handed Mrs. Miller the plate of brownies and she lifted the foil and thanked my mother for the welcoming gift. She then offered one each to Penny and me. Yummy, another brownie.
When we were leaving to go back to our house I told Mrs. Miller if Penny wanted to ride the bus I would make sure she got to the right place. She asked her daughter if she would like to ride the bus and Penny nodded her head. The next morning I knocked on their door and walked Penny to the bus stop and sat with her on the ride to school. I sat with her at lunch again that day even though I was ribbed by several of my friends about sitting with a girl. At the end of the day we again rode the bus and I walked her home after we got off. That was the start of a daily routine for us.
From that time we were almost inseparable. In the afternoons and on weekends we would play together. We both had swing sets in our back yards that we spent hours on. If the weather didn't allow us to go outside we would play games indoors.
When we reached high school we still stayed together all the time. We would go out together with a group of friends even though we weren't dating. It wasn't that I didn't want to date Penny because I did. I had always had a crush on her and the older we got the stronger my feelings grew. The problem was I didn't think she thought of me as anything other than a friend who lived across the street.
Our relationship stayed like this until the first week of our final year of high school. Neither of us dated anyone. I didn't know her reason but for me she was the only girl that I wanted to be with. That was when Penny's father had a massive stroke and passed away. It was at after his funeral that things changed. The friends of the Millers had gathered at their house bringing food and paying their condolences. Penny was sitting in a chair in the corner crying and it broke my heart. I went over and put my arm around her shoulders but she shoved me back.
"Go away. Your father is still alive. Stay away from me," she hissed.
I stumbled back totally stunned. I stared at her as she put her face back into her hands and sobbed. I didn't know what to do. I hung my head and walked out the front door and over to my house. I went to my room and fell on my bed and cried. I cried for Penny and her loss. Her father had meant the world to her and I knew how hard this was on her. As far as what she had said to me, I just hoped that she didn't mean it and was just hurting.
I didn't see Penny for the rest of the week as she stayed home from school. As much as I wanted to go to her and console her, I thought about her words and decided it would be best to give her time to grieve. The following Monday though I waited for her in my car as we always took it to school. I was surprised when she walked past me and headed to the bus stop. I backed out and pulled up to where she was standing with a couple of other kids. She just glared at me.
"I told you to go away," she snapped at me.
I stared at her for a minute then slowly drove away. I was really hurting now. My best friend and the girl I was secretly in love with had turned against me. I hurried to class and hid behind a book so no one would see that I had been crying. We had always sat at the same table at lunch but today she went to another table and wouldn't even look in my direction. That afternoon when I got home I talked to my mother about what was going on with Penny. She tried to soothe my hurt feelings and told me to be patient. She said Penny was hurting and would come around soon. I hoped so.
But it wasn't to be. Penny quit hanging out with our friends and soon she was dating a jock from the baseball team and went out with a different group. I was heart broken. For the rest of our senior year I quit going out with our friends and just stayed home. Mom was worried about me but she didn't push me. I'm pretty sure she knew how I felt. The worst times were on the weekends when her boyfriend would pull up in front of her house and honk his horn. From my bedroom window I would see her run out to his car and get in. In defense I poured myself into my school work.
Graduation came and I headed off to college. I graduated high school with honors and had been accepted to a major university about two hundred miles from home. I had only made it back for Thanksgiving and now for Christmas.
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The last words Penny had ever spoke to me was the day she told me to go away at the bus stop. Now the only girl I had ever loved was in the hospital and I was driving mom to be with Mrs. Miller.
I dropped mom off at the front doors and told her I would find a place to park and come find her. I hurried and found a place and rushed back in. I went to the check in desk and asked where I could find Penny and was given her room number on the second floor. I found the elevator made my way to her room. Peeking in the door I saw mom sitting in a chair with her arms around Mrs. Miller comforting her. My mother looked up to see me standing there and nodded that it was okay for me to enter.
When I came in I looked at the bed and saw Penny laying there. Her left arm was in a cast and her head was bandaged. She had an Iv. needle taped to one of her arms and a heart monitor beeped with each pulse. My heart was breaking at the sight of the girl I loved in this condition. I had to fight the urge to rush over and hold her. Instead I took a seat on the other side of Mrs. Miller. Mrs. Miller was like a second mother to me and I hurt for her as well as Penny. Eventually she told us that Penny had gone to the mall with a girlfriend and they were on the way home when a pickup ran a red light. The car Penny was in hit the truck broadside and she was sitting in the passenger seat. She had broken her arm but her worst injury was due to her head hitting the dash board. The doctors said it would be some time before they knew how serious it was. They were keeping her in a chemically induce coma for the time being.
After that we sat in silence, the only noise coming from the beeps of the heart monitor. It started getting late and mom said we needed to get home so she could fix dinner for dad. I didn't want to leave but since I had driven her here I had to go. Mrs. Miller thanked us for coming. We asked her if we could do anything for her and she just asked if we could look after her little dog. We assured her we would and I told her I would be back in the morning.
I slept fitfully that night. My dreams were filled with Penny. I ate a quick breakfast the next morning and hurried back to the hospital. Mrs. Miller was still there in the room. I saw they had brought in a roll away bed for her but she was awake sitting in a chair next to Penny's bed. When I walked in she came and gave me a hug. We sat and talked for a while. She said the doctors were going to keep Penny in a drug induced coma for another few days until the brain swelling went down and then they would allow her to awaken on her own. Mrs. Miller said she needed to run home and shower and change. I promised her I would stay with Penny.
When she had left I sat in the chair next to Penny's bed and gently took her good hand in mine and held it. I talked to her softly telling her she had to get better. Tears streamed from my eyes as I talked. At one point a nurse came in. I went to get up but she just smiled at me and told me to stay seated. When Mrs. Miller came back I was still talking to Penny and didn't hear her come in. I started at her approach and jumped up.
"No, Ricky. Stay where you are. I know you're hurting as much as I am," she said.
